The Status Syndrome
How Social Standing Affects Our Health and Longevity
About the book
Epidemiologist Michael Marmot argues that social standing is not a side issue in ill health but a cause of it, an effect he calls the status syndrome. Using evidence gathered around the world and close to three decades of his own studies, he links position in the social hierarchy to the risk of stroke, heart disease, infectious diseases, lung cancer, suicide and homicide. The gap, he shows, is not explained by income alone or by habits such as smoking. What matters is how inequality is felt psychologically: the degree of control people have over their own lives and how fully they can take part in society. Marmot also describes how wider opportunities for participation can soften those effects.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb drew from it the counterintuitive point that a well-paid employee with many bosses may live less long than someone of modest income who is their own boss, even after allowing for diet, lifestyle and genetics.
We hope you love the books people recommend! Just so you know, The CEO Library may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page.
This book has 1 recommendation
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Flaneur)
You are a hot shot in a company, though not the boss. You are paid extremely well, but, again you have plenty of bosses above you (say the partners of an investment firm). Is it better than deriving a modest income being your own boss? The counterintuive answer is NO. You will live longer in the second situation, even controlling for diet, lifestyle, and genetic predispositions.
Marmot spent years poring over data; he left no stone unturned and is well read in the general literature on human nature. This idea of people living longer when they exert control over their lives has not spread yet. That people lead longer lives when they trust their neighbors and feel part of a community is far reaching. Just think of the implications on social justice etc. Also think that everything you learn on human preferences and well-being in both economics and medicine is either incomplete (medicine) or bogus (economics).
The book is well written, humorous at times, and rigorous --it reads like a well-translated scientific paper. But it feels that it is just the introduction to a topic. Please, write the continuation.
Get this book on Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books